Green Cleaning Services and Restroom Care for Facilities Maintenance

Advancements in scientific research and studies have provided workers, consumers, and parents with a wide array of easily digestible information regarding personal health, specifically where environmental factors play a role in the transfer of germs, as well as the short and long-term consequences of cleaners and disinfectants used to sanitize high-traffic/high-contact public spaces–chief among these, bathrooms.

A wealth of information and studies have previously been published outlining the importance of maintaining clean and well-stocked restroom facilities for building occupants–up to and including damaging online reviews and Health Department closures, often leading to irreparable damage to reputation and profits.

Internet of Things (IoT) applications combined with green and sustainable cleaning practices cost-effectively address these challenges while improving occupant health and satisfaction leading to improved customer satisfaction and business profits.

Proper Tool Selection

How restrooms are cared for is often a product of what tools are used to maintain them.

Currently, the most popular system is to use color-coded microfiber cloths combined with the Two-Bucket Method, or a dual-chamber mop bucket.

This approach significantly reduces the potential for surface cross-contamination while simultaneously eliminating waste.

The addition of a green cleaning product chemical management system further eliminates waste and guesswork on the part of the custodial staff while also eliminating direct exposure to concentrated cleaning product, which could cause irritation.

More Than Floors and Fixtures

Depending on the nature of the facilities the restroom serves, additional fixtures and features, as well as externally derived challenges, will likely be present that will require specific equipment or techniques, such as:

Baby Changing Stations – Likely a highly contaminated surface that will need to be disinfected daily. Disinfecting these surfaces could be simplified by providing parents with a ready supply of sanitizing wipes at each station. Additionally, due to the relatively non-existent immune system of infants, care should be taken when selecting disinfecting and cleaning products to avoid harmful chemical exposure.

Floor Drains – Common in facilities with showers, pools, spas, or next to lakes and beaches, floor drains allow for the simplified removal of standing water, dirt, and sand. Floor drains are also germ magnets and should be removed, scrubbed, polished and the drainage pipe cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis to thwart the ceaseless growth of bacteria in wet and humid environments.

Graffiti – Graffiti promotes more vandalism and significantly reduces the appeal of the facilities, as well as its professional appearance. An untrained custodial staff will often fail to fully clean toilet stalls, and rarely think to close the door to clean the inside and check for damage. To maintain high standards of health and occupant satisfaction, it is important to keep a green cleaning solvent capable of removing marker or ink stains, as well as paint to touch up scratched-on damage.

Stall Latches – Bathroom stall latches are non-porous high-contact surfaces and likely swimming with germs and bacteria. These areas must be safely disinfected on a regular basis, underscoring the importance of occupancy and use monitoring via IoT technologies.

Trash Receptacles – Trash receptacles are also hot spots for germs and bad smells. Receptacles that are not emptied in a timely manner can lead to issues with germ transfer and lost business. A well-maintained restroom will include a plan to scrub and disinfect the receptacles inside and out on a regular basis.

Automation and Business Intelligence

As the cost of business operations continues to increase, the need to streamline and tailor custodial services has risen as well, leading to the development of IoT sensors and technologies that provide actionable business intelligence, which form the foundation of cost-effective, on-demand services, such as:

Resource use and availability notifications, allowing for streamlined supply ordering.

Occupant use tracking, including the ability to identify peak and off-hour periods, allowing for occupant friendly scheduling of custodial services.

Trash receptacle level and content monitors that notify staff when bins reach a specific level, indicating they need to be emptied, or if certain materials have been incorrectly thrown away in the wrong receptacle, such as recyclable materials that belong in a recycling bin, and;